Romanian General Prosecutor Augustin Lazar stated in his request to suspend the dismissal proposal of Justice Minister Tudorel Toader that he was not given a right to defend himself and that he could not present reasons which would have prevented the measures.

In the request, sent by request to MEDIAFAX by representatives of the Alba Iulia Appeal Court, Lazar states that the procedure started by the minister is in effect a “veritable disciplinary procdure”

He also accuses pressures on the investigation regarding the Romanian Gendarmerie’s intervention at the August 10 anti-government process, which indicted the institution’s chiefs at the time.

Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced on October 24 that he will launch the procedure to dismiss General Prosecutor Augustin Lazar from office, after criticizing his activity in a 20-point assessment.

The minister’s reasons for launching the request varied from procedural problems in Lazar’s appointment to the office in 2016, to the fact that he criticized the recent formation of a section to investigate magistrates.

In the announcement, Toader stated that upon documenting the prosecutor’s nomination for the office in 2016, he found that it a lacked a mandatory review on his recent activity, and that when he requested a copy from the country’s top judicial watchdog, CSM, it was dated one year after the decree which appointed Lazar as general prosecutor.

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The chief of European Commission spokespersons, Schinas Margaritis, stated on Monday that the European institution does not have any concerns on Romania’s capacity to take over the EU Council presidency.